Anna Hazare, Lokpal panel members to declare assets today

A day before deliberations on the anti-graft Lokpal Bill are set to begin, NGO India Against Corruption said that the civil society members in the joint drafting committee will declare their assets and liabilities today.

A day before deliberations on the anti-graft Lokpal Bill are set to begin, NGO India Against Corruption (IAC) said that the civil society members in the joint drafting committee will declare their assets and liabilities on Friday.

The NGO also released revised details of donations and expenditure during activist Anna Hazare's anti-graft campaign that culminated in the government agreeing to establish the joint drafting committee.

"We have received a total donation amounting to Rs 8,287,668. We have issued receipts to all the donors and have maintained a record of their details," IAC said in a statement.

It said Rs 3,269,900 were spent and receipts were issued to the Public Cause Research Foundation, which is acting as the secretariat for the campaign. It had previously said Rs 5,017,768 had been spent.

Meanwhile, Hazare appealed to people to stay united in the fight for a corruption-free future.

"My indefinite fast was meant to be a satyagraha of the people of India to liberate ourselves from a monstrously corrupt system of governance," he said.

According to the statement, activist Mallika Sarabhai reaffirmed her faith in the campaign.

"I am totally with Anna Hazare in his commitment to weed out corruption," she said.

The joint committee, comprising five ministers and civil society members each, set up to draft the Lokpal Bill will hold its first meeting in New Delhi on Saturday.